inDesign indexing problem

[commawrangler]

I just finished indexing a 200+ page book using inDesign 2020's index function and had problems I've never run into when I've created indexes with earlier versions. The Add All function didn't add all instances of terms, and many page numbers that did show up in the generated index were flat-out wrong. I ended up having to verify every term and page number in the index manually and change most of them. Has anyone else had issues with the index function in ID 2020?

[nycityboy19]

I just downloaded a trial and it doesnt even work. They pretend to enroll in a montly fee after creating a crappy buggy software...LOL..no way...fix the damn software and they start charging a fee.

[Frans v.d. Geest]

Each six months I create a 600+ pages (book) document (16 chapters in 16 indd files, made in book file) with many, many indices. Never had any problem. Many sub-entries, range differences, all works as should. So it is not InDesign that is at fault in principle...

That said: an "add all" is considered bad practice for an index in general. Selecting what goes into an index and where and when is a specialists editor job and yes takes time in InDesign...

[commawrangler]

"Bad practice" aside, use of the Add All function is clearly spelled out on Adobe's site as one way to index all instances of a term within a document without manually adding a marker at each instance (I've pasted Adobe's instructions below, as they currently appear on adobe.com - I bolded the text that states inDesign will insert the markers automatically). Since there is no date on the instruction page I've copied from, I wondered if perhaps these instructions apply to previous versions of inDesign but no longer apply to the 2020 version. If this is the case, I suggest Adobe delete these instructions from online and delete the Add All function from the software.

And for what it's worth, I am a specialist editor - indexing is part of my job. I've only rarely used inDesign’s indexing function and now am not terribly inclined to use it again.

Instructions on adobe.com read as follows:

Index every occurrence of a word automatically

Using the Add All option is an effective way to index all occurrences of a specified term in a document or a book. When you click Add All, InDesign creates index markers at every occurrence of the words selected in the document—not the text specified in the dialog box. (You can later delete entries that point to less significant information.)

When searching for occurrences of the selected text, InDesign considers only whole words, and searches are case-sensitive. For example, if cheetah is selected, cheetahs and Cheetah will not be indexed.

• In the document window, select the text you want to search for.
• In the Index panel, select Reference.
• To create index entries for any open documents in the book, select Book.
• Choose New Page Reference in the Index panel menu.
• Choose Add All. InDesign adds index markers to all text that matches the selected text, regardless of whether the text has been indexed, so you may end up with multiple entries for the same word or phrase.